Spire (NYSE:SR) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

Spire Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SR opened at $67.11 on Tuesday. Spire has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $73.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 72.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Spire by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $787,000. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter worth $4,067,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 116.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 288,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,511,000 after purchasing an additional 31,923 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.